1. Field of the Endeavor to which the Present Invention Pertains
The activity of playing card games is nearly universal. Because the nature of playing card games requires a player to be able to ascertain the identity (i.e., the specific rank and the suit) of at least one individual playing card during the course of any given game, and also typically requires the said player to do so in a way that maintains privacy of information regarding the identity of the said card, it is necessary for the said player to have some way of accomplishing these goals. For a person whose eyesight is adequate for these purposes, accomplishing these objectives generally presents few practical problems. However, for a person whose eyesight is compromised to the point where achieving the aforementioned objectives is impossible without some type of external assistance, there are only three practical solutions currently available.
The first solution is the utilization of playing cards that are equipped with a plurality of tactile identifiers—Braille is the most popular of this type of playing card. Each individual card typically has a plurality of protrusions disposed upon the surface of the card. Said protrusions enable a visually-impaired player to ascertain the identity of a card by physically touching (typically, with at least one finger of a hand) the said protrusions. However, the use of Braille cards presents a number of practical difficulties:                (i) excessive wear and tear with respect to the cards could impair the ability of a said visually-impaired person to read the cards properly; or        (ii) Braille cards may be damaged easily by mechanical card-shufflers; or        (iii) the presence of the physical protrusions that are disposed upon Braille cards could lead to the sacrifice of privacy of information regarding the identity of the cards because opponents of a said visually-impaired player who possess adequate eyesight could learn to recognize the physical patterns made by the Braille protrusions.        
The second solution is for a visually-impaired person to have another person—someone who possesses adequate eyesight (a “sighted person”)—accompany the said visually-impaired person in order to have the said “sighted person” read the cards on behalf of the said visually-impaired person for the purpose of transmitting to the said visually-impaired person the identity of the card(s) that is/are received by the said visually-impaired person. The problem with this method is that it is not always practical to find a third-person who is willing or able to attend a card game for an indefinite period of time where the sole function of said “sighted person” is to identify playing cards for a said visually-impaired individual. A further problem with this method is that it may be possible for the said visually-impaired person to receive advice (with respect to strategy) from the said “sighted person;” receiving any such advice would constitute cheating, and thus would be a prohibited activity if the said visually-impaired person were playing a game such as “poker” at a commercial establishment.
The third solution is to deploy a portable electronic device that has been designed at the University of Pittsburgh. A paper entitled Playing Cards Reader for People with Visual Impairments, Maria Toro, May 2010, describes a portable unit designed to read the identity of playing cards for a visually-impaired person. However, this method is inefficient because it requires a user to lift the card off of the table in order to insert the card into the device. The problem with this method is that it requires a visually-impaired player to accomplish the nearly-impossible task of lifting the cards off of the table without allowing any of the cards to be seen by any opponents who possess adequate eyesight to see the cards when they are lifted off of the table—this negates the possibility that privacy of information may be maintained.
2. Brief Description of Near Field Communications
Near Field Communications (“NFC”) has a strictly-defined set of technical parameters that makes it different from other standards of communication. NFC operates across a practical physical distance of approximately zero (0) to ten (10) centimeters.
NFC allows a wireless connection to be established automatically between multiple devices where each device is NFC-enabled.
NFC utilizes electromagnetic induction in order to facilitate a transfer of information between at least two devices where each of the said devices is NFC-enabled; NFC may be configured to transfer information in one of two ways:                (i) an “active-active” manner, wherein at least two devices interact with each other, and wherein each device has disposed within it an active NFC apparatus (typically called an active “NFC Reader”) that is coupled to a source of power where said source of power enables the said active “NFC Reader” to generate an electromagnetic field where said electromagnetic field enables each device to accomplish both the transmission of, and the reception of, information; or        (ii) an “active-passive” manner, wherein at least two devices interact with each other, and wherein one of the devices utilizes a passive NFC apparatus (typically called a passive “NFC Tag”), while another device utilizes an active “NFC Reader.” A passive “NFC Tag” is not coupled to any source of power, and is capable only of transmitting information that has been encoded within an NFC microchip that comprises part of the said passive “NFC Tag.” A passive “NFC Tag” becomes activated when it comes physically within the electromagnetic field generated by an active “NFC Reader;” as a result of the said activation, said passive “NFC Tag” automatically transfers information that is encoded thereon to the said active “NFC Reader.”        
Regardless of which method is used to transfer information via the use of NFC, each device that is NFC-enabled must be equipped with at least the following three (3) basic components:                (i) at least one NFC microchip; and        (ii) at least one antenna; and        (iii) at least one rectifier.        
Said antenna(e) and said rectifier(s) are microcircuits that are coupled to the said NFC microchip; the said antenna(e) and the said rectifier(s) must be coupled to the said NFC microchip in order to facilitate the transmission and/or the reception of information that is transferred via the deployment of NFC.
3. Description of the Prior Art Relating to the Present Invention
The prior art discloses inventions wherein microchips and microcircuits are embedded completely within playing cards in order to be read by external “reader” devices. However, each of the inventions comprising the prior art is substantively different from the present invention in two qualitatively significant ways: (i) each invention comprising the prior art deploys a technology whose practical purpose is different from NFC; and (ii) each invention comprising the prior art has an objective that is fundamentally different from that of the present invention. To underscore why these differences lend force to the argument that the present invention is indeed novel, it is worth noting that it would not be possible to create the present invention by deployment of the technologies that are shown in the prior art. This is true because deployment of the technologies shown by the prior art within the context of the present invention would allow for the interception by third parties of any transmission carrying the information regarding each individual playing card; this would defeat one of the purposes of the present invention—namely, ensuring the preservation of privacy of information with respect to the cards that are received by a player. The very short physical distance across which NFC transmits information makes NFC a highly secure way in which to accomplish the task of transferring information in situations where privacy of information is a priority. The necessity for the preservation of privacy of information when playing card games simultaneously makes: (i) the technologies shown in the prior art inherently ill-suited for application within the context of the present invention; and (ii) NFC inherently well-suited for application within the context of the present invention.
EP1713027 (invented by Koyama, et al.) discloses an integrated circuit embedded completely within a playing card. Koyama's invention further discloses a plurality of reader devices that are disposed within a table upon which a card game is being played. Koyama's invention is configured to provide a system that may be utilized by a commercial establishment in order to authenticate and to track the playing cards that are being used in any given game. The purpose of Koyama's invention is to facilitate the prevention of cheating by ensuring that only the said cards that are placed into play by the said commercial establishment are the ones that actually remain in play throughout the duration of any particular game.
DE102007007022 (invented by Ernst), and United States Patent Application 20070052167 (invented by Galatan), are explained together because they are designed for substantially similar purposes. The inventions by Ernst and Galatan each disclose a system wherein an apparatus deploying Radio Frequency Identification (“RFID”) is embedded completely within a playing card, and each invention further discloses a plurality of reader devices that are disposed within a table upon which a card game is being played. The purpose of the inventions by Ernst and Galatan is to provide a mechanism by which a card game that is being played as part of a poker tournament is capable of being broadcast to an outside audience.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,727,060 (invented by Mills) discloses a system wherein an RFID apparatus is embedded completely within a playing card. The invention by Mills further discloses a reader device that is deployed by a commercial establishment in order to authenticate the said card as having been placed into play by the said commercial establishment. The purpose of the invention by Mills is to enable a commercial establishment to conduct card games wherein at least one of the participants is located physically at a live gaming table within the said establishment, and at least one of the participants is located physically in a location that is different from that of the said live gaming table.
United Stated Patent Application 20130178264 (invented by Vilpas) discloses a system wherein an RFID apparatus is embedded completely within a playing card. The invention by Vilpas further discloses a reader device that is deployed by a commercial establishment in order to track the said card during the progression of play. The purpose of the invention by Vilpas is to enable a commercial establishment to track the distribution of the individual cards that are placed into play during any given game in order to facilitate an improved presentation of the said card game to an outside audience.